Volleyball Headline

Sunday October 10, 1999Volleyball Sweeps Alabama

The fourth-ranked Florida volleyball team swept Alabama 15-7, 15-5, 15-8 to stay perfect in Southeastern Conference action and extend its win streak to a league-best 11 matches Sunday afternoon at the Coleman Coliseum

Florida (15-2, 6-0 SEC) remains undefeated against the Tide (10-9, 2-3 SEC) since the first meeting in 1989 and holds an 18-game winning streak in the series. The Gators are 15-0 all-time and 13-0 under Coach Mary Wise.

"I like some of the things Alabama does," Wise said. "They dug the ball well. But, we did some good things. We got double-doubles out of Jenny Manz and Jenny Whitehead. The key to this match was our digs."

The Gators out-dug the Tide 77-55, a team season-best effort for a three-game match. Jenny Manz (Orange Park, Fla./Middleburg), set a season-high with 23 digs, just missing her career-best by three. She also added 12 kills for her ninth double-double on the year. Niki Hartley (San Jose, Calif./St. Francis) recorded a career-high 15 digs. Jenny Whitehead (Jenison, Mich./Jenison/Michigan State) also recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs. It was her fifth such performance this season.

The Gators jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first frame, led by Wright who had five of her eight kills in the run. Florida hit .162 while holding Alabama to only seven kills with as many errors in 44 attempts (.000). The Tide out-blocked Florida 3-1. But, the Gators had a 24-15 digs advantage. Hartley led the squad with nine.

Florida stepped up its offense considerably in game two, hitting .500 to Alabama's .119. The Gators registered 23 kills with only two errors on 42 attempts. Manz led all hitters with seven kills and had a team-high seven digs.

Alabama took its only lead of the match, starting the third game with three unanswered points. The Gators rallied with kills from Whithead (2) and Nicole McCray(Longview, Texas/Pine Tree), and a Tide attack error to take the lead. The Gators dropped off offensively, hitting .175 to Alabama's .016. But, Florida put up a match-best five blocks.

For the match, Florida netted a .270 hitting efficiency (55-18-137). Alabama mustered a .040 (30-24-151) offensive effort, led by junior outside hitter Michelle Green with 10 kills. The teams each totaled seven blocks. Whitehead and McCray topped the Gators' squad with five apiece. Freshman middle blocker Shelly Adamcik led Alabama with four, including one solo.

The Gators return to the Stephen C. O'Connell Center for the first time in six matches Friday, Oct. 15. The Gators face South Carolina at 8 p.m. WRUF-AM 850 will broadcast the match live. The Midnight Madness celebration will follow.